


Autumn’s the Mellow Time

by staccato_ramble



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Falling In Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-26
Updated: 2010-09-26
Packaged: 2017-11-03 04:46:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/377440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staccato_ramble/pseuds/staccato_ramble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over the course of September, Antonio and Lovina strike up an odd friendship that has a chance of something more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Autumn’s the Mellow Time

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts snagged from [](http://31-days.livejournal.com/profile)[**31_days**](http://31-days.livejournal.com/)

**September 1st:** _The words you’ve borrowed  
_   
Lovina tries her hardest not to seem nervous as she waits by Antonio’s locker. Really, it isn’t as if she was trying to impress that idiot or anything, but she had heard some country song on the radio and thought that maybe he’d like it if she slipped a line or two at him.

Besides, her grandfather is always dropping hints that he’d like if Lovina were a little more social. That’s all this is, her trying to make Nonno happy, because he was pretty good to her. The plan is simple enough: have a conversation with Antonio that doesn’t end with her swearing.  
  
So, Lovina writes the song lyrics down in her neatest possible handwriting: _Your smile will always be one of my favorite things_. She memorizes the words and the sweet, soft way she wants say them. Except when Antonio finally shows up and flashes a bright grin, the Italian can’t remember a word.  
  
 **September 2nd:** _You illustrate the sun’s true candor_ **  
**  
Antonio likes the sophomore girl who had worked on his family’s farm over the summer. Lovina. She was pretty enough and sometimes her face turned red like the tomatoes they had spent hours picking together. He liked tomatoes too, because they reminded him of his mother’s cooking and summers spent out in the sunshine.

Another nice thing about Lovina is, unlike a lot of girls, she’s pretty direct with how she feels. Antonio finds this helpful, because too many times he’s believed people when they say that their fine, even though they aren’t. When Lovina isn’t fine, she doesn’t just tell him with words, but in the way she swears and shoots glares that burn like the sun.

Not everyone likes people being so clear with their feelings though, so Antonio does his best to ignore Gilbert when the blonde starts calling Lovina impolite names over how she expresses herself.   
   
 **September 3rd:** _I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)_  
  
It is on an idle Wednesday that he finds the note taped to his locker. It’s in a girl’s handwriting, neat and curly, but Antonio doesn’t recognize it. The message itself is short and in Spanish, strangely enough. He carries it around with him for the entire morning until he’s able to ask Francis why someone would tell him that he drove them crazy.

His friend only laughs and points to Lovina, who is staring at them from across the library. Antonio waves cheerily, forgetting about the note in his hand. The girl turns bright red, and then flips them off before hiding her face in her sister’s shoulder.

Felicia, in a panic, asks what was going on very loudly. This made her sister start hissing curses, which in turn makes Felicia worry even more. Then she asks something that Antonio can only half-hear, but he’s pretty sure that his own name and the word ‘note’ are used closely together. Lovina lets out a little scream of frustration, and then drags Felicia out of the library, taking care to flip Antonio off again in the process.  

When he asks if he had done something wrong, Francis was too busy laughing again to answer.  
  
 **September 4th:** _The great bewildering city you live in_  
  
Antonio, for the most part, is not accustomed to driving in subdivisions. He lives out on the outskirts of town and his truck has always been used to go through fields or a few streets around the school, where his friends lived. Except tonight, Antonio promised a sick Gilbert that he would pick up his little brother from a friend’s house.  
  
Said friend, however, lives in one of those huge, confusing subdivisions where all the streets had familiar names and lead into each other. Antonio is about ten minutes late when he pulls up to the right house, where Gilbert’s brother is waiting outside along with Lovina, of all people. She scowls and drags the younger boy to the truck.

As an embarrassed Ludwig climbs into the car, Lovina stomps over to the driver’s side to address Antonio, “Hey, idiot! Next time when you come to pick this bastard up be on time!”  
  
“But, Lovina, it’s so hard to find your house!” He whines back. “Don’t be uncute!”  
  
The girl curses him out once more, before storming back into the house. From the passenger seat, Ludwig exhales as if he’d been holding his breath for the entire exchange. A few seconds later, he clears his throat in an awkward way that should be impossible for a fourteen-year-old.  
  
“If it helps, she doesn’t like me much either.”  
  
Antonio can’t help but let out a surprised laugh. “Don’t be silly. Me and Lovina are pretty good friends. Now, let’s figure out a way home!”

Whether the younger boy’s grimace comes from Lovina’s treatment of her ‘friend’ or the way the entire car jerks as Antonio spun the wheel is anyone’s guess.  
  
 **September 5th:** _You’re the miss that misses_  
  
“Lovina, is something wrong?”  
  
The question comes from Felicia, who is looking at her with those damn puppy eyes and a trembling bottom lip. Lovina tries her best not to bristle as she grinds out her answer. “I’m fine.”  
  
Her younger sister doesn’t buy it, but instead gives Lovina the same sad look for almost ten minutes. Just when Lovina is getting ready to tell her off (because a girl couldn’t even think when she was being gawked at like that!) Felicia tries again, “You seem sad, sorella. Is this about that boy you like?”  
  
Lovina snaps her book shut at that and stands. “Stop talking about stuff you don’t know, Felicia.”  
  
The older girl storms off then and Felicia waits until the room is clear to let out a heavy sigh. Sometimes, she wishes that she could be the big sister, because then maybe she could help Lovina realize that pining didn’t do any good.  
  
 **September 6th:** _Used to your streets_  
  
The third day in a row that Antonio has to pick Ludwig up, he arrives on time and is rather proud that he’s conquered at least one part of the evil subdivision. This time when he pulls up, it’s only Lovina outside watching him with her arms crossed. He smiles and asks if Ludwig is ready to be picked up yet. That only elicits a dirty look from Lovina. “He’s still in there, figured that you’d be late.”  
  
“Well, I’m used to having to come here now, so I was on time today. Plus it’s nice that we have time to catch up again, isn’t it? Just like during summer!”  
  
Lovina turns away, but still nods. “Summer was only a couple weeks ago, idiot.”  
  
He’s about to invite her into the truck to sit for a little while and chat about what they’ve been doing since the last time the say each other. (Which was, incidentally, in yesterday’s history class.) Lovina doesn’t give him the chance though, because she suddenly bolts for the house, muttering under her breath.

As they back out of the driveway smoothly, Ludwig makes a comment that Lovina seemed to be in a better mood when she escorted him out. Apparently, there had been almost no dragging this time. Antonio grinned and said that after three years, Lovina had been bound to warm up to him eventually.

**Septemeber 7th:** _You look a little bit older, a little bit colder_  
  
Sunday is the day of rest and the only thing Antonio’s family requires him to do on is to go to church in the morning and be home in time for dinner. Most days he’ll work on his truck, tinkering around and fixing what he can. Except Gilbert is feeling better today and that means that he‘s got energy to burn. The heavy rain decides for them that they’ll catch a movie that Antonio had wanted to see.  
  
Of course, spotting Lovina at the theater is just a nice surprise. At first, Antonio isn’t even sure if it was really the Italian though, because the girl is wearing high heels and an awful lot of make up. Then she starts cursing at Ludwig and Felicia for holding hands and it would have been clear to anyone who had ever met the girl who she was.  
  
So, while Gilbert is arguing over the prices of popcorn with a worker, Antonio decides to go over. “Hola, Lovina! Why are you so dressed up today?”  
  
“She’s trying to look like an upperclassman to impress a boy,” Felicia answers cheerily, “Isn’t that sweet?”  
  
Antonio nods and keeps smiling even as Felicia has to dodge behind Ludwig to avoid being hit by her sister. Gilbert begins shouting then and starts to run over, making Lovina’s eyes narrow. The dark coloring around her eyes makes it look a little like she’s been punched. Antonio doesn’t get time to mention that though, because Gilbert ruffles Ludwig’s hair, which leads to a scuffle between the brothers,

Before security can kick them out, Antonio pulls Gilbert away with the smallest of pauses in order say, “I like you just fine without your make up, Lovina.”  
  
 **Septemeber 8th:** _Dovetailed solution of your heart_  
  
Lovina spends most of the night up in her room, thinking. A couple of times, her sister or grandfather will come and knock on the door, asking her to come down and be with the family. Each time, she refuses and hugs her pillow a little tighter, wondering what she’s going to do about that Spanish bastard.   
   
The comment he made the other day, the comments he make any day, effect Lovina more than she’d like to admit. She was pretty sure that Antonio is always genuine with her, mostly because he seems too dense to lie convincingly.  
  
Really, he’s a complete idiot and Lovina doesn’t know why she bothers, other than the fact that he’s handsome and nice and he makes her stomach do a weird flip thing. At this point, Lovina is able to admit to herself that having Antonio a friend isn’t going to be enough.

She’s tried getting the point across from him, but he can be unbelievable thick. The stash of girly advice magazines under her bed is growing; the articles about how to get a guy’s attention are dog-eared and worn from re-reading. After Nonno stops at her door again, Lovina imagines spending the rest of her life trying desperately to get Antonio’s attention.  
  
When Lovina realizes that is exactly what she will and maybe even has to do, she swears and throws her pillow against the wall.  
  
 **September 9th:** _Y_ _ou’re the model of a charmless man_  
  
Antonio has never been good at flirting.

He’s naturally an easy-going and nice guy, but none of that is something he thinks about. Francis says that he needs to try and read the atmosphere, but Antonio has no clue what that means, so he just smiles and shrugs.  
  
Antonio also has never had a lot experience with girls either, because the handful that he hangs out with have known him since he was little. Things between them are comfortable and he can’t imagine dating any of them anymore than he can imagine dating one of his cousins.

As for other girls, they seem to keep their distance. Liz told him it was because of Francis and Gilbert, explaining that even if Antonio was considered the ‘good guy’ out of the three, everyone had a sneaking suspicion that he had some kind of dark secret that allowed him to be part of the unholy trio.

He doesn’t understand that, because his parents had raised him to be polite and kind. When Mama wasn’t around, his father waggled his eyebrows and told Antonio to be especially kind to the girls when he could. So, he doesn’t really understand why Lovina got so mad when he tells her she looked cute whenever she turns the color of a ripe tomato.  
  
 **September 10th:** _To me, my fair friend, you can never be old_  
  
“Hey, Liz, can I talk to you?”  
  
The older girl looks up and smiles, patting the seat next to her. Lovina spares a quick look around the library before sitting. Liz waits patiently, turning back to her math homework. After some stretch of time, Lovina finally asks, “Do you think I look like a little kid?”  
  
“I taught you how to ride your bike, you’ll always look like a kid to me,” the older girl replies, resting her chin in her palm, “But I don’t think that’s what you meant, is it?”  
  
“If you were a guy, would you date me? Or do you think that I look like I’m twelve still?” Lovina is the brightest of reds now, sinking down in her chair.  
  
It was with no shame that Liz quickly glances over Lovina’s frame. Her hair looks nice today, shining even under the fluorescent lights. The low-cut top clung to her modest chest, but failed to give Lovina cleavage. The girl has little make-up on and her eyes are narrowed with impatience. It was a bit of a surprise to realize how much Lovina had changed since Liz was her babysitter.

Leaning over to pat the other girl’s hand, Liz speaks warmly, “You’re gorgeous, but don‘t worry about growing up too fast, okay?”  
  
 **September 11th:** _Your name begins with a distinct color_ **  
**  
“What’s your favorite color?” Antonio asks, resting his cheek on his desk.  
  
Lovina glances up from her history textbook, cautiously replying, “Why do you care?”  
  
The boy shrugs and grins at her, his green eyes shining. Lovina tries to focus on her book again, because, damn it, she wants to pass this class and the bastard isn’t helping. Antonio waits for a moment or two to see if she would answer. Finally, he guesses, “I bet your favorite color is red, right?”  
  
Lovina looks up at him with a surprised look before turning away again. The Spanish boy continues, still smiling. “It fits you. Red is the color of passion and you’re a very passionate person from what I see.”  
  
“What the hell does that mean?” Lovina snaps, wishing her heart wasn’t pounding so fast. And was it just her or did everyone stop talking in order to gawk at them? Fucking stalkers.  
  
“Like that! You have so much emotion in you!” he laughs as her face turns scarlet, “And that too! You’re always so red, Lovina, so it must be your favorite color.”  

The only thing that keeps Lovina from using her textbook to bash Antonio’s head in was the teacher breathlessly rushing into the room.

**September 12th:** _An ode to your innocence_

When Lovina sees the flyer advertising a back to school dance, the first thing she does is snort and thinks what a stupid idea it is. Next to her, Felicia squeals in excitement and grabs her sister’s shoulder, begging her to go to the dance with her. Naturally, Lovina scowls and asks, “Why not have that potato bastard take you?”

“Ve! That’s an even better idea! We can double with you and that junior boy you like!”

Felicia starts to gush, prattling on about how they can get their nails done and what dresses they should wear. Lovina does her best to ignore her sister, because honestly only a freshman would get so excited over some stupid dance.

She hopes that Felicia soon realizes that there are dances every few months to promote school spirit or some BS like that. Lovina isn’t sure that she can take three years of her little sister having one more thing to add to her constant string of babble.

Nevertheless, when Antonio waves from across the hall, Lovina feels just a bit of that stupid excitement overtake her.  
  
 **September 13th:** _You’ve given me the answer_  
  
Antonio is the one to get the mail today and is surprised to find a postcard addressed to himself among the ads and bills. The picture on the back is of some kind of field and when he squints, he swears that he can make out tomatoes.

Walking in through the screen door, he reads the short note:

_Yes, I’ll go to the dance with you. Pick me up at seven and make sure there’s room in your stupid truck for my sister. -L. Vargas_

Even though he’s been awake for a couple hours already, it takes some time for Antonio’s brain to catch up with what he’s reading. Because Lovina just asked him out, right? When his mother puts a cup of hot coffee in front of him, she only raises an eyebrow at his furrowed brows and burst of laughter.  
 **  
September 14th:** _The road is all you’ll ever have  
  
_ The next day, Antonio calls Lovina’s house around noon, after spending a good portion of the morning hunting down her phone number. When the girl answers, she seems surprised to be hearing from him, especially when his opening line is, “I got your card!”  
  
It takes them a few minutes to iron out their plans, mostly because Lovina has suddenly found that her tongue is made of lead. Just as she’s more than ready to hang up, Antonio asks if she’d like to go on a drive in the country with him. There is a long pause over the line and for a moment, the boy is afraid that his phone has disconnected.

Finally, Lovina makes her demand, “Be here in five minutes or else.”  
  
 **September 15th:** _Your secret of a clandestine autumn_  
  
Lovina winds up wearing sandals and shorts to school, because a sudden heat wave has begun and it feels like July all over again. She meets Antonio on the football field for lunch, where they eat sandwiches and stuff that came fresh from his farm. He does most of the talking with Lovina weighing in her opinion every now and them.

It’s oddly familiar, even though they must have only had lunch together a half dozen times when Lovina worked on the farm. She keeps waiting for the guy who owned the place to come and tell them both to get back to work, even though the sun is in the perfect spot for a siesta. 

It’s nothing like July, however, when Antonio leans in close enough that she can feel his breath on her skin and Lovina stays in place.  
  
 **September 16th:** _Why do you keep counting?_  
  
“Only three more days until the dance!” Antonio announces cheerily to his lab table.  
  
Francis and Gilbert exchange a look and the girl who was stuck at their lab table looks excited. She doesn’t talk to them much, because the three are so close. Besides, Francis tends to stare at her chest, while Gilbert makes lewd jokes.

Now, she starts up an animated conversation with Antonio about the dance and who he’s going with. The Spaniard seems to only get cheerier as he talks to the point that his friends grow concerned, even though he offers up no details.

Francis and Gilbert exchange a look, wondering if Antonio plans to ask their lab partner out. The class goes by and he never pops the question, just keeps going on and on about how excited he is. Another worried look is exchanged, because, what’s the big deal?  
  
 **September 17th:** _You bring out the sunshine underground_  
  
For the second time this month, Antonio finds another note on his locker, but this time he recognizes the handwriting as Lovina’s. It makes him smile, even if the Spanish is poor this time and the only words he can make out are ‘smile’ and ‘favorite’. He doesn’t bother showing this one to Francis, but thanks Lovina for it when he sees her in history.  
  
She denies knowing anything about it, scowling deeply at him. Then claims that she’s been framed before turning back to her homework. Antonio doesn’t allow it to bother him, keeping his good mood up. He thinks he sees a ghost of a smile on Lovina’s face as she rushes out of class at the bell.  
 **  
September 18th:** _Holding your poly-morphing opinion_  
  
“I told you a hundred times already, Felicia, there is no way in hell that me or Nonno will let you out of the house in a dress with such a low neckline!”  
  
The younger girl touches her hand to the lowest part of her sweetheart neck, then frowns deeply. This is her absolute favorite dress and she knows Ludwig likes it, because the last time she wore it he turned bright red. With a soft whine, Felicia demands to know what Lovina will be wearing. The girl flushes, because the dress she has in mind looked a lot like Felicia’s up top, but the hemline is a good three inches shorter.  
  
Lovina crosses her arms and lets out a heavy sigh. “Fine. But you’re going to have a wrap on your shoulders, damn it!”  
  
 **September 19th:** _The hustle and bustle of the traffic greets you_  
  
It takes about ten minutes to find a parking space at the school, because all of the students are trying to pick a spot with the shortest walking distance. By the time they start the trek to the school, Felicia has found and attached herself to Ludwig. This leaves Antonio is alone with Lovina, watching as the streetlights bounce off her glittery earrings.  
  
A car blares its horn and makes a sharp turn into an empty space, missing the boy by inches. He stumbles into Lovina’s side and the girl struggles briefly to keep both of them balanced. They are caught looking at each other as another horn goes off next to them. Antonio laughs a little.

“Hey, you saved my life. Thank you, Lovina!”

She looks away, but doesn’t let go of his arm, which she grabbed in a panic. Though it’s pretty warm out, a chill races across her skin and raises gooseflesh. He squeezes her arm gently and the cold passes. Another driver blares his horn and yells something that doesn’t sound at all polite.

“Let’s get inside already. None of these assholes are worth a proper hello anyway.”  
  
 **September 20th:** _Your heart is an empty room_  
  
The next day, Lovina waits for Antonio to call her or for a note to appear in her mailbox or something.

When none of these things happen, she curses the boy for being an asshole and herself for being an idiot. Her grandfather brings up some tomato soup, which has always been her favorite meal, but that only makes her burst into tears. At that point, Felicia comes in and promises that it has to be a mistake.

She pets her sister’s hair, even though it’s messy because Lovina never washed all the hairspray out. Felicia talks about how sweet they looked talking all night and how jealous she got when Antonio and Lovina got to dancing. She predicts many more dates in the future, each one of them growing more glamorous.

Lovina doesn’t dare to be so optimistic again.  
  
 **September 21st:** _I’m sick of waking up on your floor_  
  
When Antonio first wakes up, he has no idea where he is, but the chill in the air and shag carpeting reveal it to be Gilbert’s basement. He rubs his head and looks for the clock, swearing softly when he realizes that he’s missed church and that his mother will kill him when he gets home.

Sitting up, he finds Francis wrapped around his waist and he shakes his friend awake roughly. The blonde glares at him and hoarsely asks, “What could you want this early in the morning?”  
  
“Did I ever text Lovina last night? I don’t remember anything after we got to Gilbert’s.”  
  
“Non. Gilbert would take your phone every time you tried because you were breaking the rules of a guy’s night. Don’t worry about her,” Francis yawns hugely, “Now go back to sleep.”  
  
Antonio wishes he could be on the couch, but he’s pinned under someone’s legs, so he merely nods before shutting his eyes again.  
  
 **September 22nd:** _Your spectrums a to z_  
  
“You better have a good reason for standing me up, asshole, or I swear I’ll beat you to a bloody pulp,” Lovina says with barely concealed rage as she slams Antonio into his locker.  
  
The boy only smiles at her. This does nothing but increase Lovina’s fury, her face going the brightest red he has seen yet. It’s kind of cute and makes her look like a tomato. Of course, he knows better than to say it because Lovina usually hit him when he does.  
  
“I went out with my friends on Saturday and we were having a guy’s night, which means you’re not allowed to call or text girls. Then yesterday was Sunday and Mama was mad that I missed church, so she didn’t let me do anything,” Antonio paused to brush a curl on Lovina’s hair back, “But you are looking _muy bonita_ today, so I’m glad you came to find me.”  
  
The girl stammers for a second, then crosses her arms. “Whatever! Just call next time, damn it. Then you won’t need a huge fucking list of excuses.”  
 ****

**September 23rd:** _If you find yourself caught in love_  
  
It’s a perfectly nice day out, the type that Antonio usually spent kicking around the soccer ball or practicing guitar on his back porch. Instead, he’s cramped up in the library, trying to explain the finer points of _Don Quixote_ to an increasingly impatient Lovina.

Under her breath, the girl keeps cursing him and the book, but Antonio is more distracted by other things to be bothered by it. There’s trying to figure out if that flowery smell is coming from Lovina’s hair or perfume, for one. Then there are a couple of times that his mind wanders and he ends up just staring at Lovina’s mouth, wondering if she’s ever been kissed.

She gives him a funny look, eyebrows scrunched and lips suddenly twisting downwards. A different thought hits him now, as she flips through her class notes angrily: he would really like to kiss her frown away.  
  
 **Septemeber 24th:** _A sudden wave of silver born in you_  
  
Felicia, who loves her art class more than anything else, is always babbling on about colors and what they’re supposed to mean. Silver is her current favorite, because it was modern but still considered classy and graceful. It reminds her of the moon and stars, beautiful and enchanting.

Lovina usually did her best to ignore her sister, but lately Felicia’s gibberish actually seems relevant. Still, she tells herself that it doesn’t mean anything when she wears a silver cross before going to meet Antonio at the movie theater later that night.  
  
 **September 25th:** _Are you on Melrose Avenue?_  
  
“Where the hell do you live anyway?” Lovina asks when Antonio offers her a ride home from school.  
  
“I live out of town, on the farm we worked on this summer. My family owns it.”   
   
Lovina is grateful that he hadn’t given her the opportunity to mention what a dump that the little farmhouse seemed like. Instead, she bites  
her lip and tried not shiver. The brief heat wave is over and Antonio’s truck has no heating to speak of. When the boy casually wraps his arm around her shoulder, Lovina wishes she lived farther away.  
 ****

**Septemeber 26th:** _Your hair was long when we first met_  
  
“I’m thinking of growing my hair out again. What do you guys think?”  
  
Gilbert frowns around his slice of pizza, not bothering to chew or swallow before pointing out that the soccer couch doesn’t like the players to have long hair. Francis looks annoyed at being sprayed with food but still agrees with Gilbert. Watching Antonio run a hand through his hair over and over, the blonde finally asks, “Why would you grow it out anyway?”  
  
“Well, it was longer over the summer. I think Lovina might have liked it better then.”

Antonio furrows his brows as he grabs another slice. As Gilbert began to feign vomiting in the corner, Francis pats Antonio’s shoulder reassuring, “Trust me; she would not even care if you were bald.”  
 ****  
 **September 27th:** _The complexity of your twilight_  
  
Lovina swears that she can feel a subtle shift in things whenever she was with Antonio now.

Sure, she still yells and curses, all while he acts like an oblivious idiot. They study or hang out together most days of the week. Even when they don’t they usually ended up texting or calling each other. Now, though, something between them seemed different in the way she called him ‘asshole’ or how he can sometimes get away with calling Lovina ‘tomate’. 

They’re both comfortable and awkward around each other. One minute Lovina will be resting her hand a few inches away from his, but then Antonio suddenly realizes what’s going on and pulls away. His face turns red too, these days, and sometimes he’ll stumble when they speak. Lovina seeks him out more and more, smiling a little at each fumble.  
  
It’s still terrifying though, because Lovina doesn’t know if something is starting or ending.  
  
 **September 28th:** _To name the sunrise in you_ **  
**  
“You have a very pretty smile, Lovina. Did you know that?”  
  
The girl looks up at him, her surprised expression erasing the small smile. Self-consciously, she raises her hand to cover her mouth and then turns away. Antonio leans forward and tilts his head. “Huh, why did you stop smiling? I said it was nice.”  
  
“I heard you the first time, but I didn’t feel like smiling anymore. Jeez,” She snaps back, then returned to what she had been doing before.  
  
Antonio freezes for a moment, unsure of what to do now. His silence is repaid quickly though, and he’s delighted at the slight grin that reappears on her face, but is wise enough not to say anything this time.  
  
 **September 29th:** _Your red tresses, my little tower_  
  
Okay, so the hood of Antonio’s truck is nowhere tall enough to be considered a high balcony, but Lovina refuses to climb onto the roof and he really needed to get this project done.

And, yeah, maybe it wasn’t the smartest idea for him and Gilbert to wait until the day before their _Romeo and Juliet_ video was due to start filming. Still, as he blunders through Romeo’s lines and climbs up the hood of the truck to join Lovina, something in the breathy way she says ‘where for art thou’ that makes it worth it.  
  
 **September 30th:** _You are my country_  
  
As her grandfather eyes the truck pulling out of the street and the docile look on a usually fiery Lovina’s face, the girl can tell that an interrogation is coming. She moves to escape up to her room, but Nonno is already wrapping an arm around her shoulder and looking Lovina straight in the eye. Finally, the man asks, “Is that country bumpkin your boyfriend, _bambina_?”   
  
She flushes red, but doesn’t dare to pull away from Nonno or swear. Instead, she looks down at her feet and mumbles ‘no’. Her grandfather shakes his head. “And why not? You’re such a pretty girl, Romana.”  
  
Lovina ducks her head at her childhood nickname, successfully dodging a cheek pinch in the process. As Nonno goes on about how Antonio didn’t know what he was missing, she is embarrassed by his unusual amount of praise. When he finishes, it is with a subtle threat on Antonio’s life if he tries anything fishy.  
  
When Lovina is released, she runs up to her room and sends Antonio a quick email.

_Ask me to be your fucking girlfriend already. I think Nonno wants to kill your hillbilly ass._


End file.
